DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE – Part 3

Posted on 12/04/2016 | 2 comments

I am writing this because I know of some Christian leaders who instruct divorcees who have since remarried another, to separate from their second partner, causing much turmoil and guilt for many, especially women–not surprisingly. This is wrong.

Sure, we must not treat any sin lightly. God hates divorce and true repentance and humility is necessary. Let us beware of self justification which is deadly! But neither should we turn hurting, confused and distressed people away with harsh words not seasoned with gentleness, love and grace, leaving them condemned and without peace.

So what about the situation where one of the married partners is not a believer? Let’s look at this matter and how the apostle Paul deals with this In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 7, beginning at verse 12  . . . . .

But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she agrees to live with him, let him not leave her.  The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, let her not leave her husband.

Paul admits he has no word from Jesus here—he finds it necessary here to go beyond Jesus’ words.

The word ‘agrees’ in verse 12, is the Greek suneudokei  The NKJV has ‘is willing’ but the original word carries the idea of a mutual agreement (the prefix sun means ‘together’). Paul’s theme of gender equality /mutuality—so radical in the Ancient World— that we see in verses 2 to 5 of this section is continued here and also in the next statements of Paul . . . .

V14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

In a peaceful household the unbelieving partner is blessed indeed. Paul expresses the hope here which he repeats again in verse 16: For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?  The unbelieving partner who remains has the best opportunity to be saved along with the children.

V15. Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.

Paul recognises that some will opt out. The words ‘departs’ and ‘separation’ comes from chōrizō, and is translated ‘put asunder’ in Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9.  Men and women can put asunder what God intends to be permanent. Technically this means the deserted spouse who remarries commits adultery! Yet Paul appears to say here that wilful desertion by the unbelieving one sets the other party free.  That can only mean ‘free to remarry’ though Paul’s ‘best’ is to remain single.

The Greek word dedoulōtai translated ‘under bondage’ comes from douloō, ‘to enslave’. It is a much stronger word than the word Paul uses for marriage in verses 27 and 39 and in Romans 7:2. Paul thus advises freedom for the deserted Christian believer rather than continuing enslavement in a difficult union. Can two walk together unless agreed?

Paul sees God’s calling to peace as an important matter. There is no sanctification or peace in a household of chaos, or enmity, of fighting and brutality. The believer is not bound to the unbeliever if he or she leaves.

Christians must not by their advice, commit someone to suffer a ‘marriage’ in a lifestyle of slavery. Such a marriage is no marriage at all. God has called us to peace, insists Paul (verse 15).

If Paul can encourage enslaved people to be free from slavery (see verse 21), surely a battered wife or an enslaved husband may take this opportunity to be set free and is free to marry in Christian community without condemnation.

It is clear that a marriage between a believer and an unbelieving monster is contrary to the spirit and intent of God’s calling of peace in marriage—a clear case of the need to depart from an unequal yoke (2 Corinthians 6).

Paul is silent about the impossible situations which many traumatised women find themselves locked in today, many of whom are such committed believers that divorce is the very last resort, even when they are suffering unimaginable abuse and the children are in constant physical, psychological and/or moral danger.

If it is better to marry than to burn, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians here (see verse 9), then surely it is better to un-marry than to daily face threats, cruelty, beatings, enslavements, and even death.

In all situations, the believer must humbly seek the Lord and wait on God for wisdom which is promised freely.

Beware deception of attempting to justify oneself!  We are justified only, entirely, and to the uttermost, by Jesus’ death.

To be continued . . . . .

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DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE – Part 2

Posted on 10/04/2016 | Leave a comment

Christians who advise or instruct those divorced and since remarried to separate from their second partner are in danger of imputing sin on them, which is grievously wrong. Such a direction has caused much distress, turmoil and guilt for thousands.

OK, we must not treat any sin, lightly (and God hates divorce). But neither should we legalistically turn people away, condemned and without peace, without the Gospel, quoting biblical statements out of context or without gentleness.

In First Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul deals with several scenarios. He first addresses those believers who are not married. It is important to remember that Paul is addressing believers exclusively and not pagans. Like Paul, we believers have no instructions for the pagan, ‘anything goes’ lifestyles of the society we find ourselves ministering into. We are to call people to repentance and faith in Jesus, to proclaim the Kingdom of God and salvation.  Paul wrote  . . .

V8. But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

Paul in this section of his letter keeps coming back to the ideal of singleness. He is writing in distressful times—see verses 26 to 35 and wishes people to stay unattached and not distracted by the responsibilities of marriage—to be single as he is, for “the time is short”.

V9. But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn.

Paul prefers they remain single in the present situation, but he does not have a negative view of marriage. He goes on . . . . .

V10-11. But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband not leave his wife.

Paul has additional content for the married woman from the Master—if she ‘departs’ she should remain unmarried (agomos) or otherwise be reconciled with the husband. The word ‘leave’ and ‘departs’ comes from the Greek chōrizō, ‘to put asunder’  which suggests that the wife was separated or ‘put asunder’ by the husband rather than the wife initiating the separation—the passive voice of the verb suggests this.

The husband, unlike his wife, is not specifically required to remain single if she departs, but we could assume that would be Paul’s preference.  We also note that Paul speaks against the husband separating from his wife.

In the Ancient World women were generally forbidden to divorce. And perhaps that was a factor in Paul’s thinking. But the bottom line for Paul was that everyone, male or female, is better off single, if the situation allows for that. Again, the “present distress” drives Paul’s concerns.

But should it drive ours? Some would reply YES! Current news shows the world fast descending into chaos. Many Christians would agree with Paul’s words For the time is short. The Holy Spirit must drive our concerns and decisions.

Would Paul have anything different to say to us in our 2016 domestic circumstances while still maintaining the high and holy view of marriage we find in the scriptures? And what seems good to the Holy Spirit in these troubled times?

Thus there are a few open-ended situations which believers, who find themselves in similar circumstances to those with which Paul dealt when he answered the questions of the Corinthians in 60 AD. These will have to prayerfully resolved. Any sin or selfish attitude will have to be shunned and forgiveness and peace with God be experienced.

Humility, repentance and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and the mind of Christ are necessarily called for in all these matters. Self justification must be eradicated in the process. W­e are all too ready to justify ourselves, aren’t we? He calls us to be holy and to put Him first, above all other considerations and to be conscious only of His righteousness freely given us.

To be continued . . . . .

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DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE – Part 1

Posted on 08/04/2016 | 4 comments

Hey, what a hugely relevant matter this is! And how very complicated it can be. And so many voices! So firstly allow me to share thoughts on Jesus’ answers put to him by the Pharisees and his bottom line to his disciples in Mark’s Gospel, chapter 10.

Vs 2-4. Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  He answered, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written to divorce her.”

The context for this question was the ongoing discussion among the Pharisees regarding “for what cause can a man divorce his wife?” Rabbi Shammai’s tradition said “for no cause except adultery” and Rabbi Hillel’s “for any cause”. Big debate.

Vs 5-9. But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.  For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Jesus takes the matter back to Genesis 1-2, God’s original plan, long before Moses and his ‘concession’ (repeated by Jesus in Matthew 5:31-32) and concludes bluntly that no one should separate those joined by God. That is sin.

Can we ask what circumstances, if any, exist when God has NOT joined two together? And then can man put then asunder? Are two gay men joined by God? Are two pagans joined together by God? What if two come together in lust for erotic, no holds barred experiences? Are two who write up a contract to legalise what happens in the event of divorce, really joined together by God?  What about one who has sex with a prostitute? What about a woman who is raped? Is she obliged to marry her aggressor? And what if one attempts marriage having had a previous sexual encounter? (see Deut. 22:13−21 and Matthew 1:18-25). Just asking! This is a complicated subject and one which we are not always given clear scriptural direction. In such cases we need to hear from God humbly and without trying to justify ourselves.

10-12.  In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.  He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.  If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Jesus flatly and emphatically overthrew Moses’ tradition in his reply to his disciples. In Moses a woman cannot give her husband a bill of divorce. But for Jesus, neither spouse can divorce the other—he treats the wife and husband equally!

The gospel of Jesus brings with it forgiveness, grace, mercy. He welcomed ‘sinners’ but castigated the ‘righteous’. He did not condemn the Samaritan woman (John 4)—he did not say “divorce your current husband” but “drink the water I will give you”. He said to the condemned woman taken in the act of adultery “I don’t condemn you. Go and don’t sin anymore”.

In that dramatic story (John 8), Jesus wrote on the ground. Some think he wrote the 7th commandment re adultery. The context is Jewish and Mosaic. But Paul insists in his letters we are not under the Ten Commandments. Instead we are no longer to live in sin, not because we are under commandments, but because Jesus sets us free from the bondage, the enslavement of sin and we are under grace and now married to another. We are now under a New Covenant.

I cannot see Jesus saying to divorcees who are truly repentant of their sin but now remarried, “Divorce your second spouse”. I can see him saying instead, “I don’t condemn you. Go and don’t sin anymore”. There are things done which cannot be reversed e.g, abortion, murder, rape, divorce, adultery, illicit sex. These cannot be undone. But they can be repented of, renounced and left behind in the gospel. “Go and do not sin again”. David and Bathsheba comes to mind—Jesus’ ancestors!

Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:9-11

A covenant can be broken. Moses smashed the 10 commandments, Israel broke God’s covenant (Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 16:59) and God was said to have given adulterous Israel a bill of divorce (Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 3:8, Hosea 2).

Christian leaders have a responsibility to present the Gospel of grace to those broken, hurting and traumatised by a dominating, cruel spouse. They must not simply deal with people like the Pharisees did, by absolute commands supported by isolated texts dragged out of their Judean or Greco-Roman context, resulting in the imputing and retaining of their sin.

To direct one to remain married to a person who destroys the marriage covenant by repeated unfaithfulness, enslavement, serial illicit sex, constant abuse and the like is also contrary to the spirit of Jesus.

to be continued . . .  . .

 


 

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BLIND GUIDES

Posted on 21/02/2016 | 6 comments

Jesus’ disciples usually had to hold their breath as their master kept pulling down the teachings of the religious leaders, as we read in the gospel narratives.

“Here he goes again … what will he say this time?” they might have been thinking, as they braced themselves to his scathing denunciations.

Matthew 15 records Jesus’ devastating criticism of the leaders and teachers of the Jewish Law in one of these confrontations. These men were the backbone of First Century Judaism and were the ones to whom the ordinary people in the villages of Israel looked for guidance. Jesus had torn strips off them for their adherence to human traditions which obscured or even nullified the true meaning of the word of God. The disciples, anxious to maintain religious diplomacy and not rock the boat, came to him and anxiously asked,

“Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

Then there is this truly unexpected reply from Jesus, ignoring their concerns (as he does so often) . . . .

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”   Mat 15:12-14 (NIV)

Just imagine the ramifications of that!

These men taught and practised many things which were like “plants that my heavenly Father has not planted”.  Remember, these were the teachers whose teachings and practices most closely resembled those who would follow Jesus. But the bottom line in the Kingdom of God, Jesus was bringing in is :

Only what the Father has planted will survive

If the Pharisees were blind guides, who was there left to guide the people? And who is there today to show us what the Father has planted?

And who in our current world of 2016 then is not blind? We have countless teachers who will lead untold thousands to fall into a pit of destruction and lostness. Are you following a blind guide?

Our guide must be Jesus. Jesus alone, and his Holy Spirit who speaks to us the things of Christ.

Is your guide your favourite preacher or writer? Or the dogmas of your precious religious party? Or your accumulated assumptions about what God wants from you but which God has never planted?

Many have decided themselves what to plant, what courses of action they will take, but have not heard from the Holy Spirit, from the Lord Jesus, who alone will show what the Father desires.

If the King, is not your guide won’t you “fall into a pit”? If you are not hearing and obeying Him, then are you not obeying a different “father”, like the Pharisees were?

What will be left of all our efforts and strivings if with all our good intentions, our futile plantings will be ripped out by the Father? Take care lest you assume what you are doing is from God.

“We must examine ourselves to see whether we still are in the faith” warns the apostle Paul. What faith? He is referring to the deposit of truth and practice left to us by Jesus and his apostles. Nothing more, nothing less.

We listen to what Jesus teaches, the living word of God, the voice of the Holy Spirit, and obey that, and not the vain traditions of men or what “life teaches us”. If your theology is not Jesus’ theology, cut it off. We must lead people into Jesus not into religious ghettos. Knowing Jesus. Loving him. Right?

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SALTY AND LIT UP

Posted on 12/02/2016 | Leave a comment

Jesus words to his disciples in Matthew 5 . . .

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.  Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

We obey these amazing words of Jesus today if we are his disciples and not mere churchgoers or professors of religion.

His words are so encouraging: “You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world!”

Those who follow him are declared wonderful, salt that has a heavenly and altogether different taste to what is seen in the world whether in ancient Israel or in our troubled world of 2016.

Jesus’ words show he expected his disciples to be outstanding, flavoursome, even delicious. They were intended for suffering, as the context of his words surely indicate, but yet for glory. For glory!

His disciples are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Amazing. World changers.

Is that how you see yourself as a follower of Jesus? How else can you see yourself in Christ?

There is no way his expectation of us would be anything less because he is the living bread who comes down from heaven and gives life abundantly. He promises the Holy Spirit as our helper, our resource.

Not quite like the average religious people attending church services.

Jesus intended nothing like church buildings, money-driven organisations, services, priests and hierarchies. Right?

He intended that his followers be salt that had not lost its flavour and light that would not be hidden in Christian ghettos. He hates it when his people are lukewarm (Revelation 3). He would rather have them cold. But he expects them to be hot with all the amazing blessings he has lavished upon them. Isn’t that true?

They must be good salt—full of good deeds like their master because they are in him and he in them.

Their light must shine before others.

Others must see their good deeds, without them seeking the glory from men, just the glory from God.

And as a result, glorify their heavenly Father. You agree?

What have we all done with Jesus’ designs, his intentions, his commands? slumbering as we often do under the false systems of denominational, competitive businesses driven by human effort and worldly glory. So we have salt that has lost all the brilliant taste of its designer. So what will happen to this useless salt? It will be thrown out.

The light of Jesus’ good news must be shining out there in the world, upon the needy, the sick and oppressed of the satan. But all too often the light is hidden. Are we so afraid to approach the people of the world that we instead find plenty of meetings, conferences, seminars, talk-fests, group studies and formal study courses are more important?

Time for change. Radical change. Re-formation. Are we up for it?

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WHO ARE THE SPIRIT-FILLED?

Posted on 08/02/2016 | 6 comments

Just who are the ‘Spirit-filled’ people? This is a commonly term used to refer to people who have had a Holy Spirit experience or have spoken in tongues at some stage.

Let’s examine the New Testament. The apostolic writer, Luke, is the one writer who consistently uses the phrase “filled with the Spirit”. Following its use in the Old Testament, Luke wants to show how Jesus and the new covenant believers are all typically like the prophets and dynamic men and women of God in the former times and now behave as possessed of the Holy Spirit. Not just the famous ones but all.

Luke in both his Gospel and Acts also writes about people “filled with wrath”, “filled with anger”, “filled with fear”, “filled with jealousy”, “filled with wisdom”, “filled with madness”, “filled with indignation”, “filled with envy”, “filled with joy”, “filled with confusion”, etc. It’s obvious Luke is using this language to describe people who are exhibiting such behaviours to an intense degree. So for Luke, someone behaving in a clearly powerful and Spirit-led manner can often, but not always, be described as “filled with the Spirit”. I don’t know any believers who live constantly, permanently, according to this description. Do you?

So, in Luke’s usage, it seems “filled with the Spirit” is a description of a person’s dynamic spiritually anointed state, not a badge, not a spiritual stage, not a constant state necessarily. We find in Acts the same persons are described as “filled with the Spirit” on several occasions (Acts 2:4; 4:8; 4:31; 6:5; 7:55, etc). Seems to be an endue-ment and not a constant endowment.

Referring to yourself as ‘spirit-filled’ can sound to many like arrogance, upping yourself. Big-noting. Super-spiritual. It also suggests a ‘them-and us’, a dividing up of brothers and sisters into two groups from a human point of view.

So we need to be humble and refrain from calling ourselves “Spirit-filled”. We need to have God’s approval and not the approval of others (John 5:44). Clearly there are times when we are not “filled with the Spirit” to use Luke’s terminology. For example when you are asleep!

So how do the apostles approach this?

Paul describes spiritual people with terms like “you who have received the Spirit”, “the saints”, “the mature”, “Spirit led”, “walking in the Spirit” and “living in the Spirit”. Yes, I hear you, there’s Ephesians 5:18 do not be filled with wine, but filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. That’s a bit different to Luke’s usage of the term, right?

Of course, we should continually seek to be “in the Spirit” in the way the apostolic writers describe. Paul exhorts young Timothy not to neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders (1 Tim 4:14) and in his later letter (2 Tim 1:6-7) he reminds Timothy to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Surely he is here referring back to the anointing Timothy had received when he received the Holy Spirit much earlier. Timothy needed to reignite the fire that was already within him.

Peter describes switched-on believers as royal priests, people of God’s possession, partakers of the divine nature.

John describes active, spiritual people as: walking in the light, anointed, Spirit taught, born of God, having received the Spirit, children of God, overcomers, in the Spirit.

“Spirit filled churches” an often used phrase in charismatic/Pentecostal circles, just doesn’t make sense—there are no such groups described as such by the New Testament writers. Seems like a bit of marketing, don’t you think?

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WHAT TO PRAY FOR AND WHAT NOT

Posted on 30/01/2016 | 7 comments

What and who to pray for is often the question.

In Romans 8 we read that “the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.”

Admit it—you mostly don’t know how to pray! So you need a helper. And if you have received the Helper that Jesus promised, you have that Helper living in your spirit! Learn to pray “in the spirit” (1 Corinthians 14:14; Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20).

It may come as a surprise to some that the emphasis in the New Testament writings is not in praying for the unsaved. Jesus taught his disciples “the Lord’s prayer” and that did not include the world. So what did Jesus pray for?

Jesus asked his disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest, not for the unsaved, but for labourers engaged in the harvest and especially to pray for the Lord to send more labourers!

Did he ever pray for his family?

He certainly prayed for his disciples—let me mention John 17 where we read how Jesus prays . . . .

I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.  . . . . . . these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. . . . . . I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. . . . . . . . Sanctify them in your truth. . . . . As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. . . . . . . . . . . . Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word . . . .

What a wonderful blessing it is to know that Jesus is praying, interceding for us–not for the world– as we go about doing his will and announcing the good news. We are being empowered!

Paul the apostle assures his Ephesian readers (Eph 6:18) that he prays constantly for them (but not for their salvation or healing!) He never seems to ask anyone to pray for any specific unsaved person—but to pray “. . . at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints”.

Paul also asks the same readers to pray for him that he will speak boldly: “ . . . . on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” Eph 6:18-20.

The original Jerusalem believers asked for boldness and authority among themselves (Acts 4:29-30) “. . . . . grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,  while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”

We can never use our prayers to manipulate the Lord. He can never be controlled by us in any way. Prayer is all about relationship—He is your Father and you are His daughter or His son.

And it’s not how much time you put in, or your sincerity, or your passion and energy and zeal that somehow get’s God’s attention. No. It’s asking according to his will and walking, living, praying in the Spirit.

So we do not have to ask God to save someone (or to heal someone either) because we know that it is His gracious will that none should perish but come to eternal life (John 3:14-17; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Tim 3:2-7). And so He has committed the message of reconciliation to us, Jesus’ disciples (2 Cor 5:18-20). We do not pray for the harvest but for the harvesters!

People own their lives by choice—God does not barge in on anyone. He waits for the invitation. He stands at the door of our hearts and knocks. He does not act as an intruder. He asks for our love, our willing obedience. It seems obvious that the Lord seeks and uses those who want to do His will and not their own. Like Jesus. Even like Paul.

We are all volunteers! The Lord never coerces us into doing his will. We always have the terrifying freedom to ignore him or refuse to obey. It is so amazing how we are created with sovereignty, after His image, with choice, a will. Awesome.

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What can stop us from reaching out to the sick

Posted on 21/01/2016 | 2 comments

How much faith is enough faith for the Lord to use you to set the oppressed free?

You may be tempted to wait or hold back action until you are free of any sickness or medical dependence before stepping out or until you think you have enough faith.

Or you may not feel like doing the stuff. Or you haven’t had a “special word” from the Lord to do it.

The devil will try every trick learned over 1000s of years to stop disciples being obedient and prevent the sharing of the good news of the kingdom.

But nothing must stop our obedience to the words of Jesus. The extraordinary English healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth—whose miracle accounts and sermons make wonderful encouraging reading—kept up his healing ministry while in severe pain and even haemorrhaging (he visited Australia twice in the 1930’s accompanied by his deaf daughter).

Jesus was often recorded as being moved with compassion in deliverance and healing. Love for neighbour is paramount: “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”. So it is not about us and our success, our testimony, our stories, but it’s about the lost, the poor, the suffering.

How much faith is enough faith? Jesus said effective faith could be “as small as a grain of mustard seed”! That’s how intent is the Lord about showing mercy, even though He well knows that many who experience His mercy do not choose to follow Him. Fabulous love! Wonderful mercy! Amazing grace.

Does the Lord hold back from us His wonderful power and authority which He longs to show to the lost, the fallen and the sick? The good news of the kingdom and the works of Jesus are all about his mercy and his love. Such great love that He is pleased to use us imperfect people—He looks for willingness, for humans whom He may use to show His glory. In fact the biblical evidence available to us seems to show that He does nothing without the readiness, even the permission, of His human, clay pots—you and me. Wow.

“The harvest is huge but labourers are few”.

Go for it, and in the only name that counts.

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A SOUND AND FULL GOSPEL

Posted on 19/01/2016 | 2 comments

Sound doctrine must be encouraged right from the start for the newly baptised. That means the teaching of Jesus and the apostles recorded for us in the New Testament documents. An intensive approach is necessary until a foundation and unity in Christ is experienced to bring maturity and stops the person being tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:1-16 says it all.

The Gospel is enough if it is the full message and based on sound apostolic teaching.

Paul’s letters are packed with warnings to people about losing what has been given at the start. It’s a constant theme. also Peter’s and James and John. The lot.

Sound doctrine in Jesus must replace everything else. Must replace all the additions and sacred cows that have gathered momentum and weight and accumulation by teachers in Christendom and away from the simplicity of Jesus and life, oneness and love centred only in him.

But what tends to happen amounts to adding to what people have already learned.

No. We must start from scratch—from Jesus only. That’s what the first disciples had to do. That’s what we must teach— the New Covenant and what that means, and stress its importance—the simple teaching of who we are in Christ—new men and women—who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Cant serve two masters.

You cannot live the New Covenant life in Jesus’ blood while remaining in some other covenant, like a covenant of Churchianity or of a man-made organisation, or of a denomination—or one of your own choice.

The whole understanding of doctrine in current historic Churchianity is sick, stuck in a kind of poor renovation of Old Covenant shadows, yet fraught with splits, competitiveness, unbelief, envy, lust for power, desire to make a name for ourselves  . . . . . .

For example, what did Jesus teach about “the church”? Nothing. Just 2 passages in Mathew alone which today do not have the meaning anywhere near what he meant.

Instead Christendom is all about this imported c….. word.

Most people have no idea what the original Greek word (ekklesia) means because its translation to c….. in all English bibles is religious, Romish, worldly, even pagan.  Jesus gave NO command about forming churches. Instead he told us to love one another and sure, that means togetherness, yes. It means caring, service, sacrifice for others, being servants and above all, loving one another. Gathering like they did originally.

He told us to make disciples, heal the sick, set the oppressed free, love one another, lead a holy life, receive the Holy Spirit, walk in the Spirit . . . . . . . . . .

Christendom and its micro offshoots continue to do what he did not command and ignore what He DID command.

Christendom is in most places, a mere shadow of the Old Covenant—and without even the wonderful glory of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is a shadow of the New Covenant. But we have made the Old Covenant look by comparison far more glorious than what we see today—at least it had a supernatural glory.

The apostles declared that the glory of the New Covenant makes the old look a mere shadow. New Covenant life makes the old seem to have no glory at all says Paul (see 2 Corinthians 3).

You and I must start obeying the sound doctrine of the new covenant! Today.

No time to lose.

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One thing that never fails

Here follows a wonderful encouragement penned to me by my friend Carol . . . .

There has been much focus on healing among us for a while now. We have benefited much from attending seminars and putting it into practice, discussing, praying and experimenting with healing. Some have seen wonderful results, others have not. Some have been healed, others have not and some have even died.

What should be our attitude in the face of seemingly “unanswered prayer”?

We read “do not throw away our confidence; it will be richly rewarded. We need to persevere so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while: “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” Heb 10:35-39

Therefore:

We do not throw away our confidence. We do not despair. We do not listen to the Liar and give in to discouragement. God is faithful. God is good. He will reward our obedience.

We stand firm in the faith. We help each other to stand firm and faithful. We encourage one another to stand firm and faithful.

We live by faith and not by sight. We are not carnal people living according to sensuality. We are seated in heavenly places, believing the Word, obeying Him, being alive in the spirit and dead to the flesh and sin.

We love. We love. We love. We love Him. We love one another. We pray for each other to be healed because we love one another and because we obey His Word to do so. When we are healed, it is wonderful. When we are not healed, we do not lose faith or give in to despair or discouragement, because we have loved and obeyed and we will be rewarded.

We remember that love trumps faith and hope:

Reading from 1 Cor 12:31: And now I will show you the most excellent way: LOVE…    If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  . . . . .  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We remember that Jesus said (John 13:34-35):

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We don’t let ourselves be persuaded that everyone will know we are disciples of Jesus by the performance of miracles. We do not forget that in spite of the thousands of miracles that Jesus performed, most abandoned Him.

We meditate on our reward of eternal life that comes by faith and not by performance: Matthew 7:22-23: “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.'”

We build one another up and exhort each other to know Jesus before all else and to persevere in the face of disappointment. Everything we do must hinge on love and LOVE NEVER FAILS!

Eagerly desire the gifts! Yes!

Pray for people to be healed! Yes!

Cast out demons! Yes!

Prophesy! Speak in tongues! Move mountains with a word! Yes! Yes! Yes!

And more than anything else: LOVE! Yes!

Thank you Carol

 

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Posted on 13/01/2016 in Uncategorized

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